Methods for manufacturing blade components for wind turbine rotor blades
A method of manufacturing a blade component of rotor blade of a wind turbine includes providing a plurality of pultrusions constructed of one or more fibers or fiber bundles cured together via a resin material. The method also includes placing a protective cap over at least one end of one or more of the plurality of pultrusions. Further, the method includes heat treating a surface of the plurality of pultrusions while the protective cap remains over the at least one end. Moreover, the method includes removing the protective cap from the at least one end. The method further includes arranging the plurality of pultrusions in a mold of the blade component. In addition, the method includes infusing the plurality of pultrusions together so as to form the rotor blade component.
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The present subject matter relates generally to rotor blades of a wind turbine and, more particularly, to methods for manufacturing blade components for wind turbine rotor blades.
BACKGROUNDWind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a tower, a generator, a gearbox, a nacelle, and a rotor having a rotatable hub with one or more rotor blades. The rotor blades capture kinetic energy of wind using known airfoil principles. The rotor blades transmit the kinetic energy in the form of rotational energy so as to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
The rotor blades generally include a suction side shell and a pressure side shell typically formed using molding processes that are bonded together at bond lines along the leading and trailing edges of the blade. Further, the pressure and suction shells are relatively lightweight and have structural properties (e.g., stiffness, buckling resistance and strength) which are not configured to withstand the bending moments and other loads exerted on the rotor blade during operation. Thus, to increase the stiffness, buckling resistance and strength of the rotor blade, the body shell is typically reinforced using one or more structural components (e.g. opposing spar caps with a shear web configured therebetween) that engage the inner pressure and suction side surfaces of the shell halves. Conventional spar caps and/or shear webs have been constructed of glass fiber laminate composites and/or carbon fiber laminate composites.
Certain rotor blade components may also be constructed of pultruded composites that are stronger and/or less expensive than traditional composites, as the pultruded composites can be produced in thicker sections. As used herein, the terms “pultruded composites,” “pultrusions,” or similar are generally defined as reinforced materials (e.g. fibers or woven or braided strands) that are impregnated with a resin and pulled through a heated stationary die such that the resin cures or undergoes polymerization. As such, the pultrusion process is typically characterized by the continuous process of composite materials that produces composite parts having a constant cross-section. Thus, a plurality of pultrusions can be infused together in a mold to form the component.
The ends of the pultruded composites, however, can create areas of local stress concentrations, thereby causing the part to delaminate. In addition, the unaltered ends may cause vacuum bag bridging issues which can lead to defects in the resulting part. Therefore, it is typical to taper the end of the pultrusion to an end thickness significantly less than the bulk formed thickness. In addition, the pultrusion also needs to be surface treated to ensure good bonding during the infusion process.
Various methods exist for surface treating pultrusions, including but not limited to the use of peel-ply, sanding, and/or the application of heat (e.g. plasma treatment). The heat method allows for the lowest cost as no additional materials are required and the speed and throughput are faster than other methods. However, heat from the treating process can result in the very thin ends of the pultrusion heating up faster than the thicker sections of the remaining portions of the pultrusion that can damage the end of the pultrusion reducing the strength in this critical area.
Accordingly, the present disclosure is directed to methods for forming pultrusions for use in manufacturing rotor blade components that addresses the aforementioned issues.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONAspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a method of manufacturing a blade component of rotor blade of a wind turbine. The method includes providing a plurality of pultrusions constructed of one or more fibers or fiber bundles cured together via a resin material. The method also includes placing a protective cap over at least one end of one or more of the plurality of pultrusions. Further, the method includes heat treating a surface of the plurality of pultrusions while the protective cap remains over the at least one end. Moreover, the method includes removing the protective cap from the at least one end. The method further includes arranging the plurality of pultrusions in a mold of the blade component. In addition, the method includes infusing the plurality of pultrusions together so as to form the rotor blade component.
In one embodiment, the end(s) of one or more of the plurality of pultrusions may be tapered. In such embodiments, the protective cap may be placed over the tapered end(s).
In another embodiment, heat treating the surface of the plurality of pultrusions may include plasma treating the surface of the plurality of pultrusions.
In further embodiments, the protective cap may be constructed of a metal material, such as steel. In additional embodiments, the protective cap may have a substantially V-shaped cross-section.
In certain embodiments, the blade component may correspond to a spar cap, a shear web, a root ring, or any other suitable blade component of the rotor blade. In another embodiment, the fibers or fiber bundles may include glass fibers, carbon fibers, polymer fibers, wood fibers, bamboo fibers, ceramic fibers, nanofibers, metal fibers. In further embodiments, the resin material may include a thermoset material or a thermoplastic material.
In another embodiment, the method may also include arranging the tapered pultrusions in the mold of the rotor blade component such that tapered ends of the plurality of pultrusions extend in a substantially span-wise direction when installed on the rotor blade of the wind turbine.
In another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a method of forming a pultrusion for use in manufacturing a blade component of rotor blade of a wind turbine. The method includes forming the pultrusion of one or more fibers or fiber bundles cured together via a resin material. The method also includes placing a protective cap over at least one end of the pultrusion. Further, the method includes heat treating a surface of the pultrusion while the protective cap remains over the at least one end. In addition, the method includes removing the protective cap from the at least one end. It should be understood that the method may further include any of the additional steps and/or features as described herein.
In yet another aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a method of controlling a plasma heat treating process for forming a pultrusion for use in manufacturing a blade component of rotor blade of a wind turbine. The method includes providing the pultrusion of one or more fibers or fiber bundles cured together via a resin material. The method also includes applying a plasma treating process to at least one surface of the pultrusion while simultaneously blocking and/or reducing heat to at least one end of the pultrusion during the plasma treating process, e.g. by reducing the heat input via one or more equipment controls. The end(s) of the pultrusion defines a cross-sectional thickness that is less than an overall cross-sectional thickness of the pultrusion. It should be understood that the method may further include any of the additional steps and/or features as described herein.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures, in which:
Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Referring now to the drawings,
Referring to
In several embodiments, the body shell 30 of the rotor blade 28 may be formed as a single, unitary component. Alternatively, the body shell 30 may be formed from a plurality of shell components. For example, the body shell 30 may be manufactured from a first shell half generally defining the pressure side 34 of the rotor blade 28 and a second shell half generally defining the suction side 36 of the rotor blade 28, with such shell halves being secured to one another at the leading and trailing ends 38, 40 of the blade 28. Additionally, the body shell 30 may generally be formed from any suitable material. For instance, in one embodiment, the body shell 30 may be formed entirely from a laminate composite material, such as a carbon fiber reinforced laminate composite or a glass fiber reinforced laminate composite. Alternatively, one or more portions of the body shell 30 may be configured as a layered construction and may include a core material, formed from a lightweight material such as wood (e.g., balsa), foam (e.g., extruded polystyrene foam) or a combination of such materials, disposed between layers of laminate composite material.
Referring particularly to
Referring now to
Thus, as shown in
As shown at (102), the method 100 may include providing a plurality of the pultrusions 56 constructed of one or more fibers or fiber bundles cured together via a resin material. For example, as shown in
Thus, referring back to
Accordingly, referring back to
The thermoplastic materials described herein may generally encompass a plastic material or polymer that is reversible in nature. For example, thermoplastic materials typically become pliable or moldable when heated to a certain temperature and returns to a more rigid state upon cooling. Further, thermoplastic materials may include amorphous thermoplastic materials and/or semi-crystalline thermoplastic materials. For example, some amorphous thermoplastic materials may generally include, but are not limited to, styrenes, vinyls, cellulosics, polyesters, acrylics, polysulphones, and/or imides. More specifically, exemplary amorphous thermoplastic materials may include polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), glycolised polyethylene terephthalate (PET-G), polycarbonate, polyvinyl acetate, amorphous polyamide, polyvinyl chlorides (PVC), polyvinylidene chloride, polyurethane, or any other suitable amorphous thermoplastic material. In addition, exemplary semi-crystalline thermoplastic materials may generally include, but are not limited to polyolefins, polyamides, fluropolymer, ethyl-methyl acrylate, polyesters, polycarbonates, and/or acetals. More specifically, exemplary semi-crystalline thermoplastic materials may include polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene, polyphenyl sulfide, polyethylene, polyamide (nylon), polyetherketone, or any other suitable semi-crystalline thermoplastic material.
Further, the thermoset materials as described herein may generally encompass a plastic material or polymer that is non-reversible in nature. For example, thermoset materials, once cured, cannot be easily remolded or returned to a liquid state. As such, after initial forming, thermoset materials are generally resistant to heat, corrosion, and/or creep. Example thermoset materials may generally include, but are not limited to, some polyesters, some polyurethanes, esters, epoxies, or any other suitable thermoset material.
In addition, the resin material described herein may be optionally reinforced with one or more fiber materials, including but not limited to glass fibers, carbon fibers, polymer fibers, wood fibers, bamboo fibers, ceramic fibers, nanofibers, metal fibers, or combinations thereof. In addition, the direction or orientation of the fibers may include quasi-isotropic, multi-axial, unidirectional, biaxial, triaxial, or any other another suitable direction and/or combinations thereof.
Referring now to
As shown at (202), the method 200 may include providing the pultrusion 56 of one or more fibers or fiber bundles cured together via a resin material. As shown at (204), the method 200 may include applying a plasma treating process to at least one surface of the pultrusion 56 while simultaneously blocking heat to at least one end of the pultrusion 56 during the plasma treating process. Referring back to
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
Claims
1. A method of manufacturing a blade component of rotor blade of a wind turbine, the method comprising:
- providing a plurality of pultrusions constructed of one or more fibers or fiber bundles cured together via a resin material;
- placing a protective cap over at least one end of one or more of the plurality of pultrusions, the protective cap conforming to a shape of the at least one end;
- heat treating a surface of the plurality of pultrusions while the protective cap remains over the at least one end;
- removing the protective cap from the at least one end;
- arranging the plurality of pultrusions in a mold of the blade component; and,
- infusing the plurality of pultrusions together so as to form the rotor blade component.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one end of one or more of the plurality of pultrusions is tapered, the protective cap being placed over the at least one tapered end.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein heat treating the surface of the plurality of pultrusions further comprises plasma treating the surface of the plurality of pultrusions.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the protective cap is constructed of a metal material.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the protective cap is placed over each end of the one or more plurality of pultrusions.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the protective cap comprises a substantially V-shaped cross-section.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the blade component comprises at least one of a spar cap, a shear web, or a root ring.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the fibers or fiber bundles comprise at least one of glass fibers, carbon fibers, polymer fibers, wood fibers, bamboo fibers, ceramic fibers, nanofibers, metal fibers.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one resin material further comprises at least one of a thermoset material or a thermoplastic material.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising arranging the tapered pultrusions in the mold of the rotor blade component such that tapered ends of the plurality of pultrusions extend in a substantially span-wise direction when installed on the rotor blade of the wind turbine.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one resin material further comprises at least one of a thermoset material or a thermoplastic material.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the protective cap is placed over each end of the one or more plurality of pultrusions.
13. A method of forming a pultrusion for use in manufacturing a blade component of rotor blade of a wind turbine, the method comprising:
- forming the pultrusion of one or more fibers or fiber bundles cured together via a resin material;
- placing a protective cap over at least one end of the pultrusion, the protective cap conforming to a shape of the at least one end;
- heat treating a surface of the pultrusion while the protective cap remains over the at least one end; and,
- removing the protective cap from the at least one end.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising tapering the at least one end of pultrusion and placing the protective cap over the at least one tapered end.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein heat treating the surface of the plurality of pultrusions further comprises plasma treating the surface of the plurality of pultrusions.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein the blade component comprises at least one of a spar cap, a shear web, or a root ring.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein the protective cap is constructed of a metal material.
18. The method of claim 13, wherein the protective cap comprises a substantially V-shaped cross-section.
19. The method of claim 13, wherein the fibers or fiber bundles comprise at least one of glass fibers, carbon fibers, polymer fibers, wood fibers, bamboo fibers, ceramic fibers, nanofibers, metal fibers.
20. A method of controlling a plasma heat treating process for forming a pultrusion for use in manufacturing a blade component of rotor blade of a wind turbine, the method comprising:
- providing the pultrusion of one or more fibers or fiber bundles cured together via a resin material;
- placing a protective cap over at least one end of the pultrusion, the protective cap conforming to a shape of the at least one end; and,
- applying a plasma treating process to at least one surface of the pultrusion while simultaneously blocking heat to the at least one end of the pultrusion with the protective cap during the plasma treating process, the at least one end of the pultrusion defining a cross-sectional thickness that is less than an overall cross-sectional thickness of the pultrusion.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Dec 11, 2018
Date of Patent: Apr 30, 2024
Patent Publication Number: 20220055319
Assignee: GE Infrastructure Technology LLC (Greenville, SC)
Inventor: Andrew Mitchell Rodwell (Greenville, SC)
Primary Examiner: Francisco W Tschen
Assistant Examiner: Elisa H Vera
Application Number: 17/312,766
International Classification: B29C 70/42 (20060101); B29C 59/14 (20060101); B29L 31/08 (20060101); F03D 1/06 (20060101);